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  • Korean
    Korean
    adjective
    of or relating to Korea, its inhabitants, or their language.
  • korean
    korean
    adjective
    of or relating to Korea, its people, or their language

Korean

American  
[kuh-ree-uhn, kaw-, koh-] / kəˈri ən, kɔ-, koʊ- /

adjective

  1. of or relating to Korea, its inhabitants, or their language.


noun

  • Koreans
    plural
  1. a native or inhabitant of South Korea or North Korea.

  2. the language of South Korea or North Korea. Kor

korean British  
/ kəˈriːən /

adjective

  1. of or relating to Korea, its people, or their language

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. a native or inhabitant of Korea

  2. the official language of North and South Korea, considered by some scholars to be part of the Altaic family of languages

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of Korean

First recorded in 1605–15; Kore(a) + -an


Compare meaning

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The United States and allies warned in July that North Korean workers were using AI tools to further obscure their true identities.

From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026

South Korean director Lee Chang-dong’s Netflix film carefully attends to the story of two couples of disparate classes who become increasingly entangled.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

Australia said on Friday it had sanctioned two North Korean individuals and companies over the use of "fraudulent" IT workers and cybercrime to earn cash for the isolated nuclear-armed state.

From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026

Newsbeat meets Bahl in a corner of Shoreditch, London, that's been turned into a convincing replica of a South Korean street complete with noodle bars and convenience stores.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026

He’d been too young to serve in World War II. He’d been hit with appendicitis just as he was about to ship out to the Korean War.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

All the non “A” places seem to be the korean bbq and japanese shabu restaurants where the customer cooks their own raw meat.

From New York Times ● Jul. 28, 2010

Under Seoul's constitution, all North Koreans are considered citizens of the Republic of Korea, as the South is officially known, and those who reach its territory and seek to defect are generally allowed to stay.

From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026

To most North Koreans, the life lived by the Kims and others who support the regime would seem not just extravagant but unimaginable.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

For example, the Iowa project hasn’t actually been approved, and the Koreans were surprised to hear that they had committed $54 billion for a pipeline project in Alaska.

From Slate ● Oct. 3, 2026

The North Koreans, who reached the decider of the recently concluded women's U20 World Cup, will face Japan or South Korea for gold.

From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026

In their genes and skeletons as well as in external appearance, the Japanese are very similar to other East Asians, including North Chinese, East Siberians, and especially Koreans.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

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